Luxembourg 10th in attracting talent

Luxembourg ranked tenth for its ability to attract and sustain talent, up one place from last year, according to an annual study by the Lausanne-based Institute for Management Development (IMD) released this month.

"To assess how economies perform, the IMD World Talent Ranking studies three factors: Investment & Development, Appeal and Readiness," the report said in its preface. It was compiled with assistance from the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Kirchberg.

The study of 63 countries put Switzerland first, followed by Denmark and Belgium. The lowest were Venezuela which ranked last, Mongolia and Romania.

"The study reveals powerful strengths in Luxembourg, [such] as the employee training, the highly-skilled foreign personnel and the international experience of senior managers," the Chamber said in a statement. "Among the weaknesses, we have to mention the female labour force, the management education and the difficulty to find skilled collaborators."

Luxembourg's top weakness in the survey was its effective personal income tax rate — defined as the percentage of an income equal to gross domestic product per capita — where it came in 56th. Trailing that, in 44th position, was the availability of skilled labour in the Grand-Duchy.

The country came first for pupil-to-teacher ratio and fourth for remuneration in service professions, at $58,425 (€48,960). It was fifth for language skills meeting companies' needs.